The Offer
by fangirl1982
Summary: Remember that season 9 episode where Jack is avoiding his house because of Bianca and asks Erica if she wants to see a movie? Imagine if it was Gabrielle that he asked.


_Remember that season 9 episode where Jack is avoiding his house because of Bianca and asks Erica if she wants to see a movie? Imagine if it was Gabrielle that he asked_.

"Do you want to see a movie?"

Gabrielle Jaeger stopped dead in her tracks, surprised at both the offer – she had been in Sydney less than six months and hadn't exactly been a social butterfly – and because it was coming from Jack Quade, a man share barely knew. And what she _did_ know of him was mostly by reputation. Arrogant, cocksure, liked to sleep around – although in all fairness, she had only found one woman who had admitted to sleeping with him, her colleague Charlotte Beaumont, and Charlotte was the first to admit that it had been a drunken mistake on both their parts that they had regretted the instant they had woken up.

But more to the point, Jack had been involved with two of her predecessors – Terri Sullivan, who was practically a saint at the hospital, a reputation not helped by the fact she had actually been a nun – and Deanna Richardson, who everyone said was a world-class bitch. It seemed Jack had a fondness for women in her position, and she didn't want to be conquest number three.

Although in all fairness, Jack had never so much as looked at her in a way that could be construed sexual or romantic. At first she had felt a little put out – not that she _wanted_ him to hit on her, of course, but like any woman, she liked the idea that men found her attractive, and it didn't do her ego good to know that he had found two _other_ women in her position attractive but not her – but after a few weeks she had found Jack to be friendly and knowledgeable. And best of all, he had a talent for filling holes in her rosters.

But for all that he was friendly and knowledgeable and helpful with her rosters, she couldn't claim to know him. In fact, she doubted that _anyone_ could, not even his housemate Dan Goldman, although maybe Charlotte, just a little. Some people said Deanna's betrayal had made him gun-shy about socialising, and others said that Charlotte's miscarriage had made him withdrawn.

She wasn't to know that both were true, because she couldn't claim to know him. All she knew that he never talked about himself personally, and never inquired about _her_ personal life. So it came as a surprise that he was asking her to see a movie with him.

Actually, come to think of it, not _that_ much of a surprise. It was no secret that Jack was feeling unwelcome in his own home because of Dan's infatuation with Bianca Frost. Bianca was Jack's boss and for some reason hated him, although she didn't deign to tell anyone why, and if Jack knew, he wasn't telling either. Privately – although Gabrielle would never share such an opinion with anyone – she had a theory that, if Jack's reputation as a skirt-chaser was even remotely true, Bianca was probably an offcast conquest that he may or may not remember taking to bed. Bianca was the sort of woman who held grudges like that. Gabrielle should know, she had managed to take offense to every little thing that Gabrielle's nursing staff had said to her – Gabrielle included. When Dan had been working when Bianca had wanted a rendezvous, it had been Gabrielle's fault, judging her for being a woman who slept with who she saw fit and tried to put a stop to it. As if Gabrielle _cared_ what the surgical staff did beyond being good surgeons. Which was about all Bianca had going for her.

"Sorry?" Gabrielle asked. "Are you asking me out?"

"Well – not exactly. I just – don't want to go home and _Casablanca's_ playing and a movie's always better with company."

He sounded so plaintive in that moment, so bored and lonely – and rejected. Dan valued getting laid more than he did their friendship. Gabrielle felt a shiver go down her spine as she realised that may just be something she and Jack had in common – so-called best mates who cared more about sex then loyalty. And it wasn't like she had anything better to do. A book she'd already read, episodes of _Buffy_ she'd already watched.

"OK," she said.

Jack brightened. "Really?" he asked, thinking that this would kill at least four hours – four hours until he had to decide which was worse, going home to a house which Bianca was lording over as if she owned it (Jack hadn't exactly helped matters by sweetly informing her that her lover was living in such a nice place care of mummy and daddy) and sleeping in a hospital which, well, pretty much didn't sleep.

"Jack, I don't say yes just to get your hopes up. Besides, I've never seen _Casablanca_. Is that the one where he leaves her in the end? The one about not giving a damn."

He resisted the urge to laugh and have her decide she didn't want to go out with him after all. "No, that would be _Gone With the Wind_. That was on a few weeks ago."

_Gone With the Wind_ and _Casablanca_? What kind of movie theatre was this? "It shows old movies – nothing since _Jaws_," Jack said in a slightly offended tone that made Gabrielle think his standard for 'old movies' was something a little more retro – say, nothing since Marilyn Monroe had died. Jack shrugged when she commented on that. "I like old movies. They had this subtlety and glamour that you don't get anymore." Needless to say, Gabrielle was surprised to hear Jack say something like that, and something told her that this would be a far more interesting night than reruns of _Buffy_.

* * *

"She should have stayed with him," Gabrielle argued several hours later.

"And have her husband pine away? Have the resistance effort lost for it?"

"But – but – they were totally meant to be together. That was so sad. But I enjoyed it," she added hurriedly, not wanting Jack to get the impression that she didn't... part of her hoping that maybe he'd enjoyed himself enough to invite her again. Actually, she was surprised how much she had enjoyed _herself_. She had to admit, she had been a little apprehensive about being in a dark theatre with him, but Jack had kept his hands to himself, and had engaged in an animated discussion with her afterwards. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so stimulated by a movie. But then, the small town she had come from didn't have much demand for anything but the biggest and most recent (well, as recent as you got for a population of five thousand) blockbusters, and her ex hadn't exactly been a goldmine of intellectualism.

"Glad you had a good time," he said. He walked her to her car and for a second she thought he might squeeze her hand or kiss her on the cheek or something. Instead, he just said, "I should get going. Maybe Bianca's tired herself out and gone to sleep. She makes a racket," he said, making her face.

It didn't surprise Gabrielle in the least that Bianca was the type to be so inconsiderate of other people. "Look, I have a spare room all made up, why don't you crash for a few nights until Dan realises the kind of person she is?" she found herself offering. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she didn't know why she had said them, except she thought Dan was being a real jerk by someone who was supposed to be his best mate, and she knew how _that_ felt.

"Thanks, but I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity, Jack, it's – a self-serving favour," she came up with, pleased with her on-the-spot justification. "Look, you're exhausted. I can see it in your face." Well, _now_ she could, now that she had taken the time to look into his eyes. The tiredness was obvious. Even on a surgeon's hectic, round-the-clock schedule, he was sleeping badly. "You're going to make a mistake soon enough. And I don't want a trauma surgeon operating on _my_ patients who looks like he's about ready to collapse."

"What, and you just happen to have a ready-made bed for me?" he asked.

"Well... it was for my dad, but he refuses to leave the farm. Says it's my duty as his daughter to visit _him_, not the other way around. So yeah, I guess it's for you," she asked, and she found herself smiling cheekily.

It was the first time he had seen her smile, he realised, at least beyond the professional smile that they always used to appear friendly to their patients. It completely lit up her face, and he found himself agreeing to her offer. Besides, Gabrielle's spare bedroom _had_ to be better than trying to sleep through the hussle and bussle of a major metropolitan hospital... or Bianca Frost fancying herself as the second coming of Jenna Jamison. In every sense of the word.

"How is everything?"

"It's fine."

"You need anything else?"

"Honestly, Gabrielle, I'm a grown up. I don't need fussing," Jack huffed quite convincingly, although he quite liked being fussed over. He missed Mary.

Gabrielle grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I have a kid brother, I'm used to acting like a mother hen."

"I have a kid sister and I wrote her out a pill prescription."

Gabrielle was shocked. "You did not." Even by what she had heard were Jack's low standards, that was pretty low.

Jack shrugged. "I'd rather she felt she could come to me then listen to what _Dolly_ or her girlfriends have to say. Besides, she's my half-sister and I only met her last year. All of a sudden I had an instant seventeen-year-old sister. God knows, I'm qualified enough to give her medical advice and I'd rather she have me look after her interests then – well, someone who's not going to."

That made sense to Gabrielle, and suddenly she found herself wishing that growing up, she'd had an older brother like that. Or a friend. Someone who could have given her advice about Steve, and told her she deserved better than that.

* * *

"You going for a run?" Jack asked Gabrielle the next day when he saw her dressed in running gear. Gabrielle nodded. "Give me a sec, I'll come with you." Gabrielle tired not to make a face. The company would be nice, but she doubted Jack could keep up with her, and told him so. Jack laughed, both at her assumption and her honesty. He honestly couldn't remember ever having had a woman tell him she didn't think he was fit enough to keep up with her. "I'll have you know I run about five k's each day," he told her. It might be on a treadmill, but it was still five k's.

An hour later, she had to admit that he _was_ in good shape. "I like to keep fit," he said. "And it keeps me out of trouble," he added ruefully. "What's your excuse?"

Gabrielle had to admit, she liked the way he took no pains to justify that he _had_ caused himself a lot of trouble in the past. "I did a lot of work on the farm, I don't want to lose that just 'cos I don't have the same opportunities anymore."

"Well, you look good," Jack said admiringly. You could tell that she was strong and fit.

She found herself blushing. It wasn't often that men paid her compliments that weren't of the professional variety. "Thanks," she said. She was beginning to hope Dan's interest in Bianca maintained itself for a little while longer. "Hey, you want to go get a coffee or something?" she found herself asking. "I'm actually beginning to get a good idea of where you can buy good coffee in the city," she joked.

"I've got a better idea. I have a four thousand dollar coffee machine that makes me better than anything I've come across so far. Why don't we swing by my place, load up some thermos and head to the beach."

Gabrielle laughed, suddenly feeling a little giddy, and she told herself that it was because of the four-k run. "Sounds great."

"So what's the deal between you and Bianca?" Gabrielle couldn't help but ask later as they sat on the beach, enjoying their coffees – which Gabrielle had to admit, were _much_ nicer than anything she had so far found in Sydney – and chatting amiably. Jack was even offering little details of his life, and she was giving some of her own in return, so she couldn't resist asking the question.

As soon as they were out of her mouth, she realised she had gone too far. "Sorry, I guess that's personal. You probably don't even know."

Jack laughed ruefully at that. "No, I do. Look, this is between us, yeah?" Gabrielle nodded. "I slept with her, we went to uni together. It was just one of those dumb things you do at uni. I was sixteen, emancipated, and got up to a lot. If I'd known how badly she would take the fact I wasn't interested in seeing her again – "

"So she's always been like that?" Gabrielle asked, silently thinking, _Ha! I knew it!_

"What, petty, vindictive, slighted by anything, has to have the last word?" Jack asked. Gabrielle nodded. "Yep."

"So why don't you say anything? People would _love_ to know why she's being such a cow to you."

Jack shrugged. "It'd drag me down to her level. It'll blow over eventually – she won't be able to interest Dan for that long. I didn't know anyone who took more than about a fortnight to see her true colours. Besides, I kind of feel sorry for her. I know her husband sleeps around a lot."

He had been about to ask her if she knew who Peter Frost, a well-known surgeon, was, but Gabrielle interrupted him. "_What_? She's _married_? And it didn't occur to you to tell _Dan_ this?"

"What, and come across like I'm some moraliser? Or his mum? No thanks."

"Don't you think he has a right to know?"

"He's a big boy, Gabrielle, and it's not like he's in love with her. Besides, right now, he's so infatuated that he'd probably think I made it up to try and discredit her. Let it go, it'll blow over."

"You don't get it, Jack, I've been cheated on. It's not fun."

"I know. So have I. So, as a matter of fact, has Bianca. Why do you think I feel sorry for her? She's not some liberated temptress, she's a wife who's been cheated on and is trying to play the same game and, I'll wager, not enjoying it nearly as much as Peter does. That's why I say let it go. In the end, she's only hurting herself."

Gabrielle was quiet for a few seconds, wishing she had the same lofty, long-sighted attitude that Jack had. But she couldn't be as gracious about infidelity as he was. Finally, she asked, "Who'd be fool enough to cheat on you? It's just that – I know dozens of women who would _kill_ to have a boyfriend like you and wouldn't sabotage it by playing around."

"It was kind of my fault, really. I had just started my internship and I was determined to succeed so I was never there. I knew she was lonely, I just didn't know _how_ lonely. I wish she'd just told me and left rather then cheat, though. I would have taken it better. I would have respected her more. My dad played around a lot and I saw growing up how unhappy it made everyone – apart from him, that is. I've never had any time for it Not in myself, not in others. What about you?"

Gabrielle was so floored by Jack's admission that she almost missed that he had asked her to reciprocate. "Best friend, boyfriend, lots of alcohol," was all she would say. That summed it up quite nicely, actually.

"Ouch. Though I slept with my very-recent ex's supposedly lesbian best friend and got her pregnant, and _that_ involved lots of alcohol, too," he said with a low chuckle. Funny how he could laugh about it now when he never could before.

She laughed at that. "I'd say you got me beat," she said.

* * *

"I wonder where Jack's got off to," Bianca mused as casually as she could, hoping to elicit information out of Dan. She had heard that he had been crashing in on-call rooms for over a week, and had been delighted to know that she had forced Jack out of his own home. At first, she hadn't believed it when she had taken on the role of Head of Trauma to help fill the void created by Mike Vlasek's departure – naturally, the boy's club was hardly going to give her the coveted Head of Surgery role – and who was one of the junior surgeons but Jack Quade. Jack Quade, who had slept with her then barely recognised her when she'd chased him down several days later. Jack Quade, who went through women the way other men went through clothes. Jack Quade, who epitomised everything she hated about the by's club. Good-looking, cocky, favoured by men in high positions, cruising through life on trust funds and nepotism while she had bussed tables, answered phones. Jack Quade, who didn't remember her, let alone remember what he had done to her that had her so pissed off.

God, how she hated him.

God, how she loved getting revenge. And as an added bonus, Dan was an excellent lay, so eager to please, especially with what he considered to be his better. And Bianca knew she was his better; she knew she was the better of most of the people in the hospital. Including tat uptight boss of his, Gabrielle Jaeger, who had put him in night shifts out of sheer jealousy that _she_ didn't have anyone to go home to. Ha, she was just the kind of woman her husband would be interested in; wasn't Peter always saying tat it was the plain ones who tried harder?

"Dunno," Dan shrugged. He wasn't exactly eager to talk about Jack when he was in bed with Bianca. Besides, it made him kind of uneasy to think about how badly he was treating Jack; the man had just as much right to sleep comfortable in his own bed as Dan himself did. He didn't get why Bianca was so hung-up about going back to her place.

"He's probably found some accommodating woman to shack up with."

"I doubt it." Either Jack was extremely discreet or he hadn't dated since Deanna. Dan was inclined to believe the latter; Jack rarely spoke about his ex, but everyone knew how gun-shy he was about getting into a relationship. Especially now that he had a much healthier, completely platonic relationship to focus on – that with his sister, Rebecca. "He's probably just crashed at his sister's house."

"Jack doesn't have a sister." And she should know, having listened to him taking the piss out of his working-class roots; his dad and two half-brothers.

"How would you know?" Dan asked, and inwardly Bianca cringed. No-one could know why she hated Jack so much. Thankfully, it seemed to be just an idle question and Dan didn't wait for an answer. "He met her last year, when their mum was dying. He's absolutely devoted to her. Did absolutely nothing while she made his girlfriend cry." Dan laughed at the memory. It had been at Jack's twenty-sixth birthday, and Rebecca had needled Deanna about her looks, her age and Jack's history with women until she had made her cry. It had been a wonderful thing to witness for everyone who had been there, and Charlotte had even managed to tape it so she could show it to anyone she met who had also had the displeasure of working with Deanna.

"Somehow, I can't see Jack being devoted to anyone but himself," Bianca said snidely.

"What _is_ it with you two?" Dan asked. "Why do you hate him so much?"

Bianca knew she had overstepped the mark. "He represents everything I hate about the boy's club," she said stiffly. "He's never had to work for anything in his life. And the way he goes through women – if I did that, I'd be called a slut."

"He hasn't gone out with anyone or brought them home in the six months he's been living here," Dan told her. "He's a nice guy once you get to know him. I don't get why you hate him so much."

* * *

A few days later, Bianca scowled when she entered the tea room of the ED and saw Dan with Charlotte, Cate and a beautiful young blond woman who couldn't be older than eighteen. And she had that wholesome, Jennifer Hawkins-type all-Australian beauty about her. Not to mention mesmerising green eyes that looked vaguely familiar. Bianca had learnt to make the best of her Eurasian beauty, but it was hard not to feel a little put out to see Dan smiling and laughing with this beautiful woman who had to be ten years younger than her – and a fair bit younger than Dan, too. "Put your tongue back in your mouth, Dan," she said, trying to be glib, trying to sound like it didn't bother her in the least that he was practically flirting with someone else in front of her. "It doesn't suit you to flirt with jailbait."

"Relax, Bianca, she's eighteen," Dan said. If he _had_ been flirting, he felt a little guilty, but he had always had a bit of a crush on Jack's kid sister – exacerbated, of course, by the fact that she was just as intelligent, arrogant and ambitious as Jack and therefore considered him beneath her as boyfriend material.

"You're Bianca Frost," the girl said.

"You've heard of me?" Bianca said, preening a little. She couldn't be _that_ bad if she had heard of her. Probably a medical student looking to butter up to a high-ranking female to mentor her.

"Of course I've heard of you. You're the married woman that my brother slept with," she said cheerfully.

The room went dead silent, no-one looking more stunned at the information that had just departed from Rebecca's mouth as Dan. "Excuse me?" Bianca asked coolly.

"You. Are. The –" Rebecca started to repeat her words slowly, as if Bianca were a child.

"I heard you, you stupid girl," Bianca snarled. "I just have no idea what you're talking about."

Rebecca looked innocent, and if Cate and Charlotte hadn't witnessed her pull a similar stunt on Deanna just a few months ago, they would have thought Rebecca had made an honest mistake thanks to her big mouth. "I'm sorry, Jack must be talking about Another Bianca Frost. You're maiden name isn't Miller? You didn't go to AUMEL?"

Bianca glared at Rebecca hatefully. So _that_ was why those green eyes looked so familiar. "Excuse me, I have things I have to do," she said, hurrying out the door.

Cate snorted with laughter. Bianca had been too rude, too arrogant to her on too many occasions for her _not _to find something like this amusing. So the hypocrite was married! And she hated Jack for some indiscretion, probably from years ago!

Charlotte clapped Rebecca on the shoulder. "You," she said, struggling to speak through her laughter, "are our official ward mascot."

Only Dan, understandably, was upset. Married! And she had slept with Jack at some point! He didn't doubt it was true – Bianca would have denied it quickly enough if it wasn't. He was surprised she _hadn't_ tried to deny it, actually. But Rebecca had this way of knocking people off balance so she could go for the jugular that much more effectively – she had demonstrated that with Deanna well enough. "I – have to – go – do something," he mumbled, bolting out of the tea-room.

"Wow," Cate said, stunned. And then, "Hey, I owe Dan ten bucks."

"Huh?" Charlotte asked.

"We had a bet that he tells Rebecca everything. Well, _Dan_ bet that he tells her everything. I think I just lost."

"Something tells me he's not about to collect," Charlotte said knowingly. She felt a little sorry for Dan. He'd demonstrated some pretty poor judgement, but that didn't mean he deserved to be humiliated like that. And the funny thing was, she had a feeling that Rebecca had blurted it out of the complete lack of discretion that eighteen-year-olds often posses as well as her own frank personality.

Soon after, Gabrielle walked in. "What happened?" she directed her question to Cate and Charlotte, sensing the odd vibe in the room.

"Ask Ms. Rowe over here," Charlotte said with a smirk. Witnessing Rebecca humiliating Bianca had almost as good as witnessing her humiliate Deanna; a memory she wasn't going to forget anytime soon.

Gabrielle recognised the last name immediately and focused her attention on Rebecca. "You really do have the same eyes as Jack," she mused, and Rebecca beamed at that. "So, what happened?" she asked. Rebecca retold the story – embellishing a little, naturally – and Gabrielle was grinning by the end of it. "Good," she said. "I can't stand that woman. Poor Dan, though."

Rebecca shrugged at that. "_Poor Dan_ is making my brother sleep at the hospital," she said dismissively. It was obvious that her loyalty lay with Jack first and foremost. Something told Gabrielle she would like Rebecca. And then she caught herself and realised Rebecca didn't even know why she was – at least, as far as Gabrielle _knew_, she didn't know who she was. Who knew what Jack told her?

"I'm Gabrielle," she said, holding out her hand to the younger woman. "I'm – "

"The Nursing Unit Manager," Rebecca said. "The Skanky Ho's replacement. Hey, you really _are_ taller than her," she said after a moment's thought.

Gabrielle laughed. She was blunt, but there was a no-bullshit honesty about her that she thought she would like. And she immediately recognised Deanna by Rebecca's succinct description.

"I like her," she told Jack later when they were sitting on the grass on the shore of Sydney Harbour after a jog.

"She likes you," Jack said. "Although that wasn't particularly hard. You just had to be an improvement – "

"On Deanna. Yeah, I got that." Gabrielle laughed. "My God, she must really have done some damage."

"Yeah, she did. I suppose I can't really complain that she screwed me around when she caused Jack's heart attack. I just – invested a lot in her emotionally. Look, I wasn't going to say anything because it seemed so silly to bring it up after all these months – but I was kind of cool towards you when I first met you because of it. I'm sorry about that. I was taking it out on you just 'cos you held her position."

She was surprised to hear an apology from him after something so small and after so many months, but pleased nonetheless. "It's OK," she said. "I knew why, anyway. Charlotte and Vincent totally took up your cause. You have lots of people who like you in this place, regardless of what Bianca might think. Me included," she added, feeling suddenly shy.

"Thanks."

"And you seem to have quite an advocate in Rebecca."

"That's 'cos we're practically the only family we have."

"Don't be so modest. Bec has exactly the same family I do – a living parent and a brother – and I don't get along nearly as well with Ben as she does with you. She adores you, and you tend not to earn adoration for no reason."

"Bec?" he asked, feeling oddly – and pleasantly – flushed that she would think that of him. "She doesn't let many people call her Bec. You must have really hit it off with her."

"I guess I did. I told you, I like her."

That made Jack look at her differently. "I'm glad," he said. "She's kind of possessive of me and, well, I like having you as a friend. I'm glad you get along with her." Once the words were out of his mouth, he regretted the way he had said them; he had made it sound like he was talking to her as a girlfriend, not a mate.

Gabrielle turned her head slightly so Jack couldn't see her blushing. She got that he had meant his words in friendship, and that it wasn't his fault that it had sounded like something else. It was just that for a second there, it had sounded like he was talking about her as a girlfriend, and not just a mate.

* * *

"I like her," Rebecca said out of the blue a few days later over drinks at Cougars while they waited for the others to dribble in. She often kept him company when the end of his shift and her uni finished.

"Who?" Jack asked, distracted. He was wondering if Gabrielle was going to make an appearance tonight. She hardly ever did, not even on a Friday night. His shifts hadn't coincided with hers for a few days now so he only saw her for a few minutes at a time. He was beginning to miss having her around. She made for better company than Dan.

Dan, now _there_ was a joke. He had called it off with Bianca – you couldn't really keep seeing someone who was both married and your supposed best mate's cast-offs _and_ keep your dignity at the same time – but hadn't yet worked out that Jack wasn't staying there anymore. Of course, their different rosters meant that they often didn't see each other for days at a time, but you'd think they guy could apologised or something.

And the thing was, something told him that he wouldn't be nearly as sore about it if he had seen something of Gabrielle in the last few days. She had a way of making him smile and forget all about this Dan-and-Bianca mess. So he wasn't paying all that much attention to his sister. "Who?" he asked, distracted.

"Gabrielle. I like her."

"You only spoke to her for, like, five minutes."

"First impressions count. You remember I hated Deanna on sight."

Jack chuckled ruefully at that. "Yeah, I remember." Rebecca had taken an instant dislike to his ex, even before they had gotten together. It had been at the hospital following the discovery of Kerry's fast-deteriorating body. He hadn't realised at the time that Deanna was sending him signals, trying to get him interested in her, but Rebecca had, and had instantly decided there was something off about her.

Man, he wished he had listened to her now.

"But Gabrielle seems genuine. She can laugh at herself. I like that in a person."

"Yeah, me too," Jack said, surprised he had never thought of it before. But Gabrielle _was_ very genuine – and she _could_ laugh at herself. Not to mention she could make _him_ laugh. And she didn't judge him. She was so easy to talk to and never made him feel like she had been saying something behind his back moments before the way some people in the hospital did.

"She have a boyfriend?"

Jack laughed at that. One of the problems of being so blunt was that you rarely had the knack of discretion. "Subtle, Bec."

Rebecca looked as innocent as she could manage. "What?"

"No, she doesn't. But don't get ideas into your head. I'm not going to ask her out."

"Why not?"

"Because – because –" Jack floundered around for a good reason why not. She was single, she was the same age as him, they got along well, they had the same values when it came to relationships and fidelity... and he couldn't deny that she was quite attractive. And tall, a good five-ten. He bet if she wore heels he wouldn't have to bend his neck at all to kiss her...

"You're blushing," Rebecca commented slyly. "Are you thinking about kissing her?"

"No," Jack said, blushing even harder once Rebecca had called him on his thoughts. "Anyway, I'm not going to date her because – I work with her," he said triumphantly.

"Since when was that an excuse?" Rebecca asked sweetly. Jack told her everything, and she knew his track record for dating colleagues. And getting them pregnant. "Just make sure you use a condom this time," she teased.

* * *

"You didn't come to Cougars," Jack commented when he got home soon after to find Gabrielle elbow-deep in dinner. "Not that it isn't great to come home after a long day to find a pretty girl cooking dinner," he added. He had only meant it flippantly, and immediately regretted it. Had he been too flirtatious? Damn, he wished Rebecca hadn't put thoughts into his head. Especially that idiotic crack about using a condom. Damn, he wished he'd never said anything to her now.

"Didn't feel like it," she said. She felt a bit flustered over his comment about her being a 'pretty girl'. She knew he was only being flippant, but still – She bowed her head slightly so he couldn't see her blush.

"You should come one night, especially on a Friday – it gets pretty big."

"Thanks, but it feels a bit weird. I'm their boss, not their friend. I don't feel like I'm really wanted." And the sad thing was, she remembered when she had started out and she felt exactly the same way about _her_ superiors having drinks with them, like they were her friends and not her boss.

"You're _my_ friend," Jack asserted. "And Charlotte's. _I_ want you there."

She blushed harder. "Thanks," she said again. "I'll think about it."

She was behaving oddly, he realised; he would have noticed it sooner if he hadn't been distracted by his own thoughts. "Anything up?" he asked, wondering if she had cottoned onto _his_ thoughts.

"I'm fine."

"Could you look at me then?" he asked. Reluctantly, Gabrielle raised her head and wished that she was back on the farm where she was outdoors all day and had a decent tan to hide her blushing. "Have I said something to embarrass you?" he asked.

"No."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"It's not important, Jack."

"Then why won't you tell me what it is?" he asked reasonable.

She felt very flustered. She didn't have much experience with men to begin with, and being here with Jack who had loads of experience with women, who could make her feel flustered with a few comments that didn't mean anything – "Look, it's just that spending all this time with you – I've never spent this much time with a guy who wasn't my dad or brother or my ex."

"So... you find me attractive?" he asked. God, was _this_ why she had been acting flustered around him? And he'd thought _she_ was picking up on _him_ acting flustered around _her_. So much for thinking he was good around women.

"Um... yeah." He smiled, and she took that to mean he was amused by her pathetic girly crush on him. "Look, Dan's ended it with Bianca so it's probably best if you moved back in with him, and we can – "

Jack cut her off with a kiss. For a second, she was too surprised to respond. Then she relaxed and let him kiss her; after a few seconds she started kissing him back. She didn't have much experience with men and kissing, but it wasn't hard just to mirror Jack's motions once she thought to relax. She met his tongue with hers, wrapped her arms around his neck, ran her fingers through his hair, rubbed it against her fingers, savouring the texture against her skin.

He pushed her against the counter so he could use it as leverage, her body pinned between it and his. He pushed his chest up against her and she could feel the muscles in his chest against her body and she wondered how easily he could lift her. Experimentally, she ran her hands the length of his back, feeling his muscles tense and relax in response to the stimulation. She lifted his shirt up and slid her hands inside, running them against his bare back.

He bucked against her, the cold stickiness from the dough she'd been kneading hitting his skin immediately. "Shit!" he said immediately. "What the hell is that?"

Guiltily, she raised her hands out to him. "Sorry," she said.

He started to laugh. He couldn't remember the last time he had been with someone who bothered to make dough from scratch. "I like you more with every new thing it discover about you," he teased, a sparkle in his eyes. "Go on, wash your hands. I'd rather not get dough all over me in the process of kissing you, if you don't mind."


End file.
